angela iannone

Hello! I’m Angela Iannone, and I’m 61 this year! I am currently a resident of Columbus, Ohio, but lived and worked in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for nearly 30 years. I am an actor, educator, director, and playwright. I did not begin writing until I was 50! I started my writing adventure as an adjunct acting instructor in need of a large cast play, based on people from American history. With deadlines for production meetings looming, I decided to write it myself. I’ve always been a history buff, and I fell deeply in love with American Shakespearean Edwin Booth, and the creators of early American theatre. My research allowed me to write four complete plays, three of which have had several complete productions, and a delightful ongoing adventure that has included a Research Fellowship at The Folger Shakespeare Library, an American Theatre and Drama Society grant, and an ongoing relationship with the The Players Library, at the home of Edwin Booth in NYC. Writing the plays has led to wonderful friendships with the creative teams on the productions, deep and satisfying relationships with Booth scholars, American theatre scholars, and other 19th century theatre practice scholars. I’ve been so thrilled to correspond and collaborate with so many brilliant creators, all because of my later- life start in playwrighting. My website has photos of some of the productions, updates, and information on my work. I am honored to be part of the Honor Roll! 

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: https://www.angelaiannone.com
Facebook: Angela Iannone 
Instagram: angela.iannone3 

MORE ABOUT ME
​Two opening nights as a writer were completely joyful, the opening of my first play "The Edwin Booth Company Presents" at the college where I was working as an adjunct, and the opening of my second play "This Prison Where I Live" at Titan Theatre, Off Broadway. When I began my journey as a writer, I never imagined the words I wrote would fly the way they did, I never imagined the performers would have such a great time, I never imagined the audiences would like the plays the way they did. I feel most like myself when directing my own work, or when working on a really smart, graceful and generous script, with a crackerjack team of creator/collaborators. If I could change one thing about the theatre, I would remove the nastiness that happens when people seek to tear down the creative team, either through biting reviews, nasty commentary, or other barriers. I want artistic directors to know that now is the time to change the season selection barriers of the past, and I would urge them to take more chances on other stories. When not writing, I enjoy researching, and I have been a foster home for rescued German Shepherd Dogs for many years, the last few years specializing in senior dogs. The last year the question "why do I keep doing theatre" has been much on my mind. When it works the way it is meant to work, there is nothing quite like it. I enjoy the exchange of ideas with the creative team, I enjoy working with the performers to be their best creative selves, and I love it when a performance takes wing and reaches an audience. I have been working as an audiobook narrator during the pandemic, another thing I came to later in my career, and am completely enjoying it. I am hopeful that the theatre shut down has taught us all to be kinder, more generous, and more inventive than we were before.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I have two Booth plays that I am still working on. The first is a bi-lingual Italian/English play about the bi-lingual collaboration Edwin Booth did with Italian Shakespearean Tomasso Salvini, and the second play centers around one of the few times Edwin appeared onstage with his infamous brother, in a production of Richard 3. 

KEYWORDS
​Historical, Researcher, Animal-caretaker, Friend, Scholar